Billy Martin Finds a Script That Fits

The similarities were amusing, but Billy Martin, the former New York Yankees manager, was not there for comedy. This was drama.

Saturday in Binghamton, N.Y., where he and his wife bought a home and plan to live year-round, Martin joined the Binghamton Symphony Orchestra for a production entitled “Bernstein! Broadway! and Billy!” The program lasted about 75 minutes, with Martin’s portion taking the last 20 minutes.

He did a reading to the accompaniment of Aaron Copeland’s “Billy the Kid Suite,” a musical tribute to the bad man of the Old West. The modern-day Billy the Kid stood stage-right to read of rowdy days gone by.

“The Old West was wild,” Martin said, peering out from under the rim of a black cowboy hat as he read to an audience of about 1,000. “The men were hot-tempered and there were drunken brawls.”

Hot-tempered men and drunken brawls?

Honest, he was reading from a script.

Trivia time: What do Terry Bell, Matt Stark and Robbie Wine have in common? (Answer to follow).

Dept. of Incidental Information: USC is headed for its fourth straight last-place finish in basketball in the Pacific 10 Conference. However, it isn’t a Pac-10 record for futility.

When the league was divided into northern and southern divisions, UCLA finished last in the south for 10 consecutive seasons (1932-33 to 1941-42).

Thirty years ago today: The Boston Celtics beat the Minneapolis Lakers, 179-139, as seven NBA records fell in the highest-scoring game in history. The Celtics set four records--most points (179), most points in a half (90), most points in a quarter (52) and most field goals (72). Boston’s Tom Heinsohn led all scorers with 43 points and Bob Cousy set an NBA record with 28 assists.

Trivia answer: All are catchers in the Atlanta Braves’ camp and all were drafted ahead of Roger Clemens in the first round in 1983.

Quotebook

Tom Watson, when asked how he helped the golf game of former President Gerald Ford: “First, hitting the ball. Second, finding where it went.”